Netherlands: O’G3NE to Kyiv!

The second artist to represent their country at Eurovision 2017 in Kyiv has been revealed.The pop group O’G3NE will represent the Netherlands in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest. This will come as no surprise to many fans, as their name was thrown into the rumour mill year after year. So what will the girl group bring to Ukraine next year?

Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS revealed that the artist to represent the Netherlands in the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest would be revealed in October. Of course, with the month coming to an end, they managed to keep within their deadlines (unlike some people) and now we know that the three piece girl group O’G3NE will be flying the Dutch flag in Kyiv next May. Details on how and when the song will be chosen/released haven’t been disclosed, but given their previous track record, one wouldn’t be surprised if you had to wait until March to hear their effort to bring the Contest back to the Netherlands for the first time since 1980.

O’G3NE are made up of sisters Lisa, Amy and Shelly Vol. The trio have experience in Eurovision matters, as they managed to represent the Netherlands on home soil when the Junior Eurovision Song Contest came to Rotterdam in 2007. Earning a mediocre placing of 11th in a field of 17 entries, the group went on hiatus until 2014, when they entered the Dutch version of The Voice. The group were hot favourites throughout the course of the show and delivered each week; eventually going on to win the show – the first group to do so in the history of the show. Since then, the group have gone on to release an album and several singles, all of which receiving universal acclaim from music critics in the Netherlands.

So what are we to expect from the trio in Kyiv next year? The group are primarily releasing generic pop music, so it’s likely that the Dutch will be breaking away from the folky-country streak they have been sticking to since Anouk finally brought the Dutch to the final for the first time since 2004 three years ago. As we’ve seen with Trijntje Oosterhuis last year, pop has not been a useful genre to the country; however, a lack of evocative staging and some *goddamn* awful outfits may also have attributed to the crash from 2nd place in the final in Copenhagen to 14th place in the semi-final in Vienna.

Thus, I wouldn’t be surprised if AVROTROS allowed O’G3NE to stick to their roots and release an anthemic, uplifting track that can show off the girls individual abilities, as well as their harmonies. Couple this with some really strong staging and we could see a contender for the trophy in Kyiv next year. I can also predict there will be some huge amounts of fanwanking from fans for the group also, given that they have been rumoured to represent the Netherlands for years; despite always turning the offer down, there has always been an element of wishful thinking for the girls to finally accept the offer! Whether or not this will be delivered remains to be seen – as already mentioned, the method for choosing the song hasn’t been revealed.